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The angular red coupe darts and weaves along the narrow, glistening switchbacks as clouds swirl around the brooding 11th-century Schloss Hohenwerfen, the castle that starred in the 1968 World War II action thriller, “Where Eagles Dare.” Earlier, on the wide-open spaces of the autobahn, we’d scattered hard-driven Opels and Volkswagens like autumn leaves, thundering past them at 165 mph with a supercharged sonic boom. But now we are deep in enemy territory, prowling roads that have honed the reflexes of some of Germany’s best driver’s cars. In a Cadillac…

Cadillac CTS-V Coupe versus BMW M3 and Audi RS 5: This one’s been a long time coming. We’ve compared American and European cars before, but those stories have been more about a clash of cultures than a match-up of machinery. This time, though, it’s different. The 2011 CTS-V Coupe packs the same firepower as the CTS-V sedan in a package that’s slightly smaller, a little lighter, and a fraction more agile. And remember, the CTS-V sedan is a car that has vanquished Jaguar‘s impressive XFR and BMW‘s legendary M5-and put Mercedes-Benz’s E63 AMG on notice.

BMW’s M3 is the oldest car of this trio, but like a good red wine, it seems to be getting better with age. Under the hood is the now-familiar 4.0-liter V-8 that develops 414 horsepower at a screaming 8300 rpm, and our Melbourne Red coupe is equipped with the lightning-fast seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission. It’s also fitted with BMW’s new Competition Package, a $2500 bundle of goodies that includes wider offset 19-inch alloy wheels, the ride height lowered by 0.4 inch, and reprogrammed Electronic Damper Control and Dynamic Stability Control settings designed to sharpen the car’s dynamic responses beyond the already scalpel-like ability of the regular M3.

Audi‘s new RS 5 is nothing less than a short, sharp jab at the solar plexus of the M3. Ingolstadt’s engineers have reworked the RS 5’s 4.2-liter V-8 so that it develops 444 horsepower at 8250 rpm. It also features a new seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission. But, like BMW, Audi is beholden to its heritage: The RS 5 is built on the same front drive-biased platform architecture as the A4 sedan. To compensate for that fundamental chassis imbalance (the RS 5’s front-to-rear weight distribution is 58/42 percent, compared with 51/49 for the M3 and 54/46 for the CTS-V Coupe) Audi engineers have attempted to deliver a technical knockout.

The RS 5 is a quattro, and to reduce associated understeer, Audi has reprogrammed its brake-management software to enable a form of four-wheel torque vectoring. The system monitors driver steering and throttle inputs to calculate the optimal torque distribution. If it detects slip from the inside wheels, it instigates a slight application of the brakes.

But the secret sauce is a new crown-gear center differential. The rotating crown gears at the heart of this diff distribute drive fore and aft and are powered by four pivot-mounted compensating gears arranged at angles of 90 degrees to each other and driven by the gearbox output shaft, which doubles as the diff housing. Under normal driving conditions, the two crown gears turn at the same speed as the housing, delivering 60 percent of the torque to the rear axle. But if either the front or rear axle loses grip, the resultant speed differential instigates a self-locking action that diverts the majority of the torque to the axle with better traction. Up to 85 percent of engine torque can be directed to the rear wheels, and up to 70 percent to the front.

Our Sepang Blue RS 5 is fitted with a couple key performance-enhancing options. The first is the electronically controlled torque-sensing sport differential, which Audi claims is fast and seamless and works even if the diff is not loaded. The second is a set of 14.96-inch perforated carbon-ceramic front disc brakes, clamped by six-piston calipers. The rotors weigh just 8.8 pounds each and are connected to forged aluminum hubs via titanium bolts. All of which explains why these are likely to be a $6000 option when the RS 5 reaches the U.S. sometime in 2012.

In this company, the CTS-V Coupe seems stereotypically American. It’s the heaviest of the three, tipping the scales at 279 pounds more than the RS 5 and a hefty 710 pounds more than the M3. It’s also the biggest: over five inches longer in the wheelbase than the Audi and nearly seven inches longer overall than the BMW. Under the hood are cubic inches instead of high technology; a slow-revving, pushrod V-8 that’s about 50 percent bigger than either of its German rivals and has but a single camshaft and two valves per cylinder. But there’s way more to this engine than that simple resume suggests: Essentially a slightly detuned, wet-sump version of the mighty supercharged LS9 that powers the Corvette ZR1, the CTS-V’s LSA V-8 delivers a stout 556 horsepower at 6100 rpm, and has a torque spread the size of Kansas.

With the best power-to-weight ratio, it’s no surprise the CTS-V Coupe is easily quickest on the dragstrip, beating the M3 to 60 mph by a tenth of a second, and the RS 5 by three-tenths en route to a 12.3-second quarter-mile time that easily eclipses the M3’s 12.6 and the Audi’s 12.8. Impressively, the big Caddy pulls this off without resorting to the sophisticated launch-control systems fitted to both German cars, though it definitely requires a skilled right foot. Stab the gas, and the tires will smoke until the transmission short-shifts, blowing the run. Dither too long, and the tires will hook up well below the meaty part of the torque curve, costing precious tenths.

So far, so Detroit. But out on the road, the CTS-V Coupe blows old Motown stereotypes away. Setting the shocks in Tour mode overlays the firm ride with just the right amount of compliance, yet keeps the chassis composed and communicative. On the autobahn, the Caddy has the same calm, deliberate demeanor as an AMG Mercedes, even when hammering through big, endless sweepers at 140 mph or more. Attack twisties with verve, and that muscular V-8 seems to shrink the Coupe’s mass and girth, while the Magnetic Ride Control and the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires deliver impressive poise and grip. The steering is terrific-much more talkative than the synthesized stylings of the Audi’s helm and more delicately defined than the BMW’s-while the Brembo brakes outperform the M3’s and deliver a more consistent pedal feel than the carbon-ceramics on the RS 5.

The CTS-V Coupe is a very good car. It’s fast, has a wonderfully composed chassis, and looks like a million bucks on the road. But it’s not quite good enough to win this comparison. Yes, it is heavier than it should be, and is not very well packaged-the smaller M3 has a more useable rear seat and trunk. But in this test, against these cars, the CTS-V Coupe suffers because its old-school six-speed automatic transmission comes up a day late and a dollar short.

Instead of paddles, the Cadillac has yesteryear rocker switches on the back side of the steering wheel to facilitate manual shifts; they lack the tactility and force-feedback sensation of either the Audi or the BMW systems, and swapping ratios seems to take an age compared with the dual-clutch trannies. The sport-mode setting doesn’t seem very effective, and the moonshot 0.67:1 sixth gear is too tall for the 3.23 rear axle (manual CTS-Vs run a 0.63:1 sixth with 3.73 gears), which means the tranny constantly hunts between fifth and sixth when you’re hustling on the autobahn.

The Audi RS 5 doesn’t win, either. It’s a beautifully built car with an interior that’s easily the classiest of this bunch. The 4.2-liter V-8 purrs like a lion on ecstasy, the dual-clutch transmission is smoother than a politician’s smile, and all that chassis technology makes it the most confidence-inspiring of the three to drive flat-out over unfamiliar roads. But there’s a curiously artificial feel to almost every touch-point in this car; you’re always faintly aware that, somewhere underneath you, a bunch of electrons is swarming furiously to make sure that the RS 5 defies the laws of physics. And all that engineering is expensive. As optioned, our tester would cost at least 10 grand more than the other two.

BMW’s M3 has long been the segment’s benchmark, but it’s not perfect. Left to shift itself, the seven-speed transmission is clunkier than the Audi’s. The steering-wheel rim feels fat and clumsy, and these days Hyundais have better-looking interiors (our car’s all-black interior looked particularly cheap and nasty). But the M3 is still the most sharply focused driver’s car of this bunch, a scalpel among sledgehammers.

Each of these cars is seriously fast and highly desirable. That we could even contemplate putting a Cadillac up against the best from BMW and Audi and not have the thing left gasping and wheezing, brakes on fire and suspension turned to mush after three days of hammering around Bavaria shows how far Caddy has come from the days when most of its customers left their teeth in a glass by the bed at night. The RS 5 is a marvelous Grand Tourer, an elegant, classy two-door that will feel just as comfortable antiquing in the Hamptons as hustling over the Grossglockner Pass in an early autumn snowstorm. But when it comes to performance, passion, and pure driver appeal, the BMW M3 is still the benchmark.

1ST PLACE: BMW M3

The oldest car here, but like a good red wine, it’s getting better with age. Driver-focused powertrain and chassis make it a scalpel among sledgehammers.

2ND PLACE: AUDI RS 5

Supremely confidence-inspiring and easy to drive fast, the RS 5 delivers a technical knockout, but at the price of driver involvement.

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